Louisville played a close one last night but was able to pull out a 3-2 win. Jake Elmore went 3-3 with a walk and a run. He had two hits the night before as well, giving him five hits and a walk over the past two games. Since coming over to the Reds Elmore has struck out just eight times and walked 10 times in 17 games, but he he just one extra-base hit to work with as well.
Yorman Rodriguez extended his hitting streak to nine games last night with a double in two at bats, but he also walked three times and scored three runs in the game. Over his hitting streak he’s posted a .394/.512/.758 line with six extra-base hits. More impressively he has had nine walks and just seven strikeouts in that time frame. He has already walked 12 times in the month of August with a week left to play. His current walk rate of 8.9% is the highest he’s ever had in a single season. His strikeout rate is the second lowest rate of his career.
Another outfielder in Pensacola is having a good go of it too. Kyle Waldrop had three hits last night, all driving in runs as he went 3-5 with a double and three runs batted in. The left handed hitter has a six game hitting streak going on where five of those games had multiple hits. He’s 12-25 over that span (.480) with two home runs, two doubles and nine runs batted in. For the season between Bakersfield and Pensacola the outfielder has posted a .333/.384/.498 line with 48 extra-base hits.
Beau Amaral continued his strong season last night as he extended his career high home run total to seven with a 2-run homer for Bakersfield. The center fielder went 2-5 with three runs batted in last night. In the 2014 season he has already set carer highs in doubles, triples, home runs, runs scored, runs batted in and is tied for a career high in walks.
Arizona Reds third baseman Gavin LaValley had been in a slump for the past six games, going 3-25 (.130) before going 1-2 last night with a home run and two walks. He has been the most consistent bat in the Reds lineup by far this season, so getting him going again to finish out the final week could help the team pull out a few wins along the way.